"If my arm——" he began, but his mother cried out so that he never finished his sentence.
Napoleon, in these days of gloom, divorced his wife, married the Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, and a son was born to them, the little King of Rome, they called him.
The Czar had been again with Napoleon and there had been a famous meeting at Erfurt, and they had divided the world between them, and then Alexander had paid his friends a visit at Memel and had been shocked at the appearance of the Queen.
"Come," he said, "to St. Petersburg and see the wonders of my capital. It will do the Queen good."
And so they went on a splendid journey and met all the Royal family of Russia and received honour and rich presents.
But Queen Louisa cared no more for such things as fine clothes, crowns, banquets and jewels.
To her friend, Frau von Berg, she wrote:
"I am come back from St. Petersburg as I went. Nothing dazzles me now. Yes, I feel it more and more, my kingdom is not of this world. I have danced, dear friend," she said, "I have been agreeable to the whole world, but God Almighty have mercy upon me." So much did she feel the sorrows of her poor kingdom.
But now the French had left Berlin entirely, and, at Christmas time, the year 1809, three years after Jena, the King and Queen were returning to their capital.
Marianne and her grandmother were standing on Unter den Linden, Ludwig and Pauline, who was now his wife, not far off. Again there were flags and garlands, and again the people everywhere.